Triathlon...I Finished!

As many of you know, I competed in my first ever triathlon on June 29 in Rochester, MN. The triathlon consisted of a 1/4 mile swim, a 10.2 mile bike, and a 3.2 mile run. The training was hard and took a lot of mental determination to complete but it got me through the race. My goal was 1. to finish and 2. to run the entire last portion. I accomplished both of my goals. I finished the race in 1 hour and 40 minutes, not the fastest time on the planet but I ran the entire 3.2 miles! A great accomplishment considering that back in January I couldn't even run 1 mile without my asthma kicking in. 

(internet is super slow tonight so I'll add some pictures later!)

Thanks Lord for the strength and stamina to finish this race and to complete this goal! 

The Joys of Starting

I got to spend 2 weeks this summer as a YouthWorks Starter. What that means is that I travel to one of our mission sites for a week to help the staff get up and running. I am an extra set of hands as well as a voice of experience to help them run a successful first week for our participants. 

My first starting adventure took me to Sisseton, SD. A small town on the South Dakota/Minnesota border. I drove there from the Twin Cities and after my 4 hour car ride was grateful to find an incredible and caring staff at the other end. One of them had seen YouthWorks before as a high school youth; other than that they were greener than green to the YouthWorks world.  They were amazing though and did a great job. When Friday came I didn't want to go and they didn't want me to leave. We all put off my departure as long as possible and even tried to brainstorm a few ways that I could stay with them. After being there for a week (and immediately jumping back into Area Director mode-I have done that job for the last 5 years so it was easy to slip into) I began to see all the ways I was hoping that they would be grown and stretched this summer-in their faith, as well as individually. It was a sad realization to face that I wouldn't be getting that chance personally but would have to suffice with updates from their Area Director as well as random phone calls to them throughout the summer. I loved my time at Lake Traverse and was sad to leave. 

Me and the Site Director for Lake Traverse, Mandy

we're looking pretty good for being sleep deprived and unshowered!

Next I headed up to Sault Ste Marie, MI (which is on the Upper Peninsula right next to Canada), which was a site I had been Area Director for the year before. I was excited to head back to a familiar place but I was still missing the Lake Traverse team and was a little bit nervous to be meeting a new set of staff. Upon my arrival I found 4 very laid back people who seemed to have a lot of problems taking initiative and making decisions. I didn't seem to connect with them as quickly or as naturally as I had with the Lake Traverse team and I was afraid that I was in for a very long and very hard week. I have rarely been more grateful to say that I was wrong. While the staff was still pretty laid back and somewhat quiet, they jumped in and did a great job. I ended up having a blast with them, especially the Site Director who is somewhat of an absurd quirky but really quality guy. By Thursday night I couldn't think about going home because I wanted to break into tears. I hate good-byes in the first place and now I was saying good-bye to the second set of great staff that I had just begun to get to know. As with Lake Traverse, I saw areas in each of their lives that I hoped they would grow in this summer. The whole plane trip home (all 4 airports of it), I tried not to think about the fact that I was 1. done being out for the summer and would have to go back to the office and sit behind a desk (being on site reminded me how much I love what I do and about why I do it) and 2. that I was leaving 4 people that I really wanted to spend more time with (not to mention the 4 from Lake Traverse whom I was already missing).  I felt so blessed by the 2 weeks I got to be out in communities working with youth and adults. It was an amazingly refreshing and uplifting time, despite how tired I was upon returning home.It is such an amazing feeling to put your faith into action and to be filled with so much purpose. 

The Sault Ste Marie Staff-Ross, Reuben-the Site Director, Erin, & Shannon at Iriqouis lighthouse on Lake Superior. We went there for a little sight seeing/quiet time fun! Notice the sweatshirts-despite being the end of June it was a bit chilly out there. I was wearing jeans,  a long sleeve shirt, a light fleece jacket and a hat! 

Me with the staff at our Thursday night evening activity-going to the home of on of our community friends who lives on Lake Superior for swimming (or a polar dip), kayaking, and bonfire fun. Again, we are freezing so we are in our warm clothes! 

All in all I loved starting and it has been fun to continue to keep up with the staff in those 2 places. I regularly get text messages from each place asking when I can come back and the Site Director in Sault Ste Marie has even added me to his weekly e-mail updates he sends to friends and family back home. 

Happy Birthday America!

This is the first 4th of July that I have ever had in Minneapolis. For the last 8 years I have celebrated the 4th in some random town with summer staff and YouthWorks participants.  It was weird to think that when I got done with work at 4:00 (yes, we had to work today, but we get lots of other days off during the year to make up for it and we got to have a huge picnic which was fun) I had the entire evening free. I didn't have to worry about finishing up Club and figuring out how to get participants to and from the fireworks as well as getting them to bed at a decent hour. Instead I took a short nap and then headed over to some friends house for a BBQ. It was the perfect evening. We sat and chilled in the backyard. The sun was shining, it was warm (but not too warm), the food was delicious and we lounged around for about 3 hours eating and watching the kids play in the pool. It was exactly what I needed. Then me and 2 friends walked to a nearby park to watch the fireworks. I can home feeling really relaxed and thankful for such a great evening. 

Father thank you for great friends and relaxing evenings. Thank you for the perfect weather and the chance to be outside celebrating this nation with all the different people that live in my neighborhood. Thank you for providing in ways that I didn't even know I needed. 

(P.S. I know I haven't written anything about my month of June-starting 2 YouthWorks sites and doing a triathlon. Keep checking back, those things are next on my list to post about! )